To The Badlands And Beyond!

We did (eventually) make it home, but first:

We drove through the Badlands. I'd heard of the Badlands but didn't really know what they were. I'm soooo glad we didn't miss this. You drive through national grasslands (who knew we had national grasslands?) which are green and lovely (if slightly boring) and then BOOM! Crazy canyons, wrinkled desert, mineral colored mounds - wildness completely spread out before you. We LOVED it. We could have spent days there. (It won't ever replace the beach for me, but Erin Leigh was right - there is a strange, expansive magic to the place that invokes the majesty of the ocean.)

We did not see rattlesnakes (thank heaven!) but we did see prairie dogs. I heart prairie dogs! When they bark their whole bodies jump. We they scamper from one hole in the ground to another, they hump along like fat, uncoordinated snakes. And when they turn, they swivel their top halves around with their paws crooked out in front like they're trying out for the Thriller video. We probably spent an hour laughing at the prairie dogs. (But they are fast little suckers and hard to get close pictures of.)

We understood the impulse to take photos as we drove, but dude, you're on a motorcycle! Pull over!

We were amazed by the vividness of the layered colors. The air was so clear, the withered grass so dull, and the rock strata so bright and distinct. A-mazing.

We finally, finally, finally got all the way to Nashville where we had a party (natch!) with our extended families. My sister (Tidget) and my nephew (Thrasher) who were in from Vermont, both of our moms and Donna's siblings and nieces all gathered at Harmony Landing (which is a retreat center owned by D's family). We baked cookies with the cookie cutters we'd collected on our trip. There were cookie bison and cacti, sunflowers and lizards, horses and kokopellis. (I wish I'd taken a picture of the pink frosted bison cookie with the purple sugar glittering on top, but I was too slow. I'd no more than reached for my camera when a three year old niece squealed in delight and reached for the "Princess Buffalo.") Here are the unfinished versions:


We made ("authentic Sioux") fry bread in bite size pieces so everyone could get a taste. That's sage blossom honey from Arizona in the bowl in the center for dipping. (But shhhhhh! Don't tell John that we opened his present and shared a little of it before we gave it to him.)


We served (to those old enough) Moose Drool, Anchor Steam, Sierra Nevada, and a selection of Grand Teton beers:

Here are some of the girls - nieces (=Cutie Pie #1 and Cutie Pie #2!) with their new "ponies in a purse" that we bought somewhere on Route 66:


Here are some of the boys - Sheumais, Iain, Angus, and Thrasher:

We went boating the next day. It was a perfect day for being at the lake. The air was warm (but not hot), the water was cool (but not cold), the sun was bright and a nice breeze blew. That, my friends, is as close to heaven as you can get in Nashville in August! Sheumais and Tidget at Center Hill Lake:

We went tubing. Have you ever been tubing?! Have you ever been "team tubing" with crazy, monkey boys who think that tubing is a competitive sport in which the goal is to attack, pounce on, and/or overturn the tube with the mama on it? My "teammate" Angus had all sorts of tips for me. In spite of his sage advice (which was usually some variation on either "watch out" or "hang on!") we went flying tail over teakettle several times. (And my arms the next day? S-O-R-E!! Every single arm muscle I've ever even thought of having hurt. I could NOT lift my arms above shoulder level. Not to save my life, much less to brush my teeth. Aren't you glad you weren't in the car with me THAT day?) Here is Iain claiming victory (but you'll notice it's his teammate, cousin Will, in the water while Angus and I are still on our tube.)

Angus and his shiner. He did not get it from tubing. He got it from wrestling. "I'm ok Mom. I promise. It didn't even hurt." Boys!

The final milestone of the trip? Donna's fabulous Jetta wagon clicked over that 100,000 mile mark! (Please ignore the irony of the engine light being on. And can anyone explain why the "trip-o-meter" reset itself every 2,000 miles?! Our road trip mileage at that exact moment was 6,618.8 but we still had just under 500 miles to get back to Chapel Hill.)

Home again, home again. Whew.
I'd show you pictures of the groceries we bought yesterday to stock up for when all the kids get back (four hours of shopping and $500 later) but they don't all fit in one frame. I'd show you my dining room table which normally seats eight and which is now covered with myriad documents for the upcoming legal crapola (Aug 28th!), but it's too depressing and overwhelming. So... I'll finally get around to mentioning TRAINING!

Willie and RBR were right - that first run after the half marathon sucked. But the one after that wasn't so bad. We had a monster 2500m swim yesterday which felt good to arms that have finally recovered from tubing boy style. (And digressing only slightly... did you see Michael Phelps win his 8th? Or Dara Torres win silver? The water cube venue is amazing and I have been absolutely grooving on the underwater cameras! Man, I love the Olympics.) Back to gritty reality: Vivian is glaring at me because she is still bug encrusted from riding on the top of the car for 7,100 miles and because I'm trying to ignore the 2.5-3 hour ride on today's training schedule. Who came up with that?! (Oh, right. Gale Bernhardt - a professional coach who knows what it takes to prepare for an oly tri. Dang!) The race is now less than a month away, less than four weeks away even! I suppose I should put away my laptop, go into my kitchen and eat (while avoiding looking at the nauseating legal detritus on the table) and hie me hither out the door and onto my training plan. Peace peeps! Hope all enjoy their training and racing!